MyNovel

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Editors' Review

Writing a novel can seem like an overwhelming process. All those characters and details to keep track of, not to mention finding the proper structure and pacing. Many would-be novelists just don't know where to begin. MyNovel breaks the novel-writing process into manageable pieces, giving writers a clear idea of how to proceed through each step of the writing process.

The program's interface is attractive and intuitive, with a layout that's similar to Office 2007 products. Although the program's Help file is well-written and thorough, most users should have little reason to visit it. MyNovel guides you through the first steps, helping you decide if you want to write a character- or plot-driven novel and explaining how the action should rise and fall. The program is definitely geared toward novice writers; experienced novelists will likely find the program's guidance too basic and obvious. But for those just getting started as writers, the program's advice will be tremendously helpful. Once users select what kind of novel they want to write, the program offers a straightforward way to organize every aspect of the novel, including chapters, characters, places, subplots, and much more. Diagrams allow users to chart everything from chronology to character relationships. The program has many extra features, including guidance on finding an agent or publisher and access to an online writers' circle.

MyNovel is free to try, but certain features, including saving and printing, are disabled. The program installs desktop icons without asking but uninstalls cleanly. We recommend this program to all beginning novelists.

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Publisher's Description

Ever wanted to write a novel or your life story? MyNovel will help you to do that. It will help you to plan and write your first novel and indeed all the others you write after that. MyNovel includes a full word processor and spellchecker but it is more than that. MyNovel includes templates, plots, successful formulas for you to follow. Alternatively you can start with a blank canvas and allow MyNovel to release your potential.

What's new in this version:

Version 3.0 includes spell-checking as you type, a thesaurus, a new word processor and diagram editor.

Out of business???? As of this writing (May 13, 2014) the company's website is offline and has been that way for 3 weeks. It also uses A LOT of RAM.

Summary

I must say that I've used this software with much enjoyment. I found it to be the best package out there. Despite its slow load (I have a SSD drive running Win 7/64 and it takes about 2-3 minutes for it to load) it still provides with excellent options and everything you need to develop and write a novel.

The word processor is excellent. Allows for font changes, proper indentations and tabs, etc. The organizational tools (character developer, story board, scene creator and layout are wonderful. You can use the tools or just write free without using the tools.

My big issue is that the company appears to be out of business. I recently had to xfer my files to a new HD and when I went to re-register (which I've done before, going back to Feb) the registration key produced an error message. When I went to the site, I got the error, "site not found". Email attempts were also rejected. Really a shame because as I said, for me, this was a really awesome tool

I have migrated to WriteWay which is very good as well and is cheap ($40). Hope this review helps.

none. There is nothing good about purchasing this software. It has been a disaster since they took my money.

Cons

This program crashes constantly.It is super slow.The program itself is muddied and appears more like a cluttered desk than software that is supposed to help "organize"Tech support will not write back to you and they have no phone number, so don't think about calling them, or getting your money back.The demo version worked alright, but when I spent the $40, then that program didn't work at all.

Helps in organizing the work you are doing.Nice timeline feature.Nice character profiles

Cons

Crashes . . . a lot.Lose hours of typing. You can, of course, turn on 'auto-backup' and put in a short time between saves to compensate.Crashing tends to corrupt something in the program. I have no idea what; in any case, sometimes it becomes necessary to delete and re-install the program. when this doesn't work, do NOT COUNT ON customer support. It is a joke. No manual. No help files.

Extremely cheap for what it does. Brilliant facility for planning and keeping track of even the most complex of novels, or for that matter - series of novels.

Cons

None discovered. No crashing, freezing, messing things up or anything of the kind. Been using this every day for nearly a year, so I should know by now!

Summary

I would have given up and dropped my dreams of writing if MyNovel3 didn't exist. Though there may be individual programmes that do tiny bits of what MyNovel does with greater polish or with a more expensive skin, none of the others come close to it for overall functionallity and ease of use. I agree entirely with the CNET critique, though I will probably continue to use MyNovel3 and any further versions of the software even when I'm no longer a "novice" - because It's the only thing that has the ability to keep pace with the extremely complex things I write (I'm a serial Sci-Fi novelist).

1) It seems that you get a lot of functionality for your money.
2) It may be helpfull with the planning stage (save your work often!)

Cons

1) After I installed MyNovel my PC crashes at random times.
2) Technical support blamed anti-virus for the crashes.
3) I got sick & tired of MyNovel crashing my PC.
4) MyNovel does NOT return my money.
5) I went back to using FREE yWriter.

Summary

Don't waste your time & money. Use much more stable and free yWriter instead. Use FreeMind (also freeware) for planning.

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